Why did the secretary tell me to wait for Irva if the Council member didn’t want to speak to me or acknowledge my existence? Hello… I’m still breathing here.
“Can you answer me this riddle?” asked Faris.
I sighed. “What?”
“Why aren’t you with them inside that room?” Faris shifted around to his side, a hand supporting his head. “You know they’re talking about what happened to that poor bastard.”
“I know.”
Faris made a sound in his throat. “Aren’t you the investigating witch?”
“I am.”
“And as the primary investigative witch, aren’t you charged with gathering all information on this case?”
“Yes.”
Faris sighed through his nose. “Sammy, darling. What the hell are you doing? You should be there in that room with them, assaulting them with all your questions. They’ve been there for over half an hour. That’s thirty minutes of information you’ve missed out on. How much longer are you going to wait?”
I glared at him, not appreciating the pitiful tone in his voice. “Logan told me to wait.” Logan told me to wait? What was I, twelve?
Faris sent one eyebrow rising. “And what? What are you? His slave? Since when do you obey orders? And from an angel-born, no less? This isn’t you. Put your big witch pants on and let’s go.”
He was right. Logan was the Head of House Michael. It carried a lot of weight with the Gray Council. Irva probably just saw me as a grunt, a bottom feeder freelancing for the Dark Witch Court. A nobody.
I might not have an elite status or a fancy title. But I was hired by the Court to get to the bottom of this. This was my case. If Irva didn’t like it, she could suck it.
I pushed off the wall, ignored Faris’s wide grin and made for Lars’s bedroom.
“I’m getting the feels,” breathed Faris.
“Be good,” I whispered. “You’re not registered, remember?”
He gave me a smile that was part challenge part excitement. “I’ll be an angel.”
Oh. Boy.
Setting my face in the most blank expression I could muster, I stepped into the bedroom. It looked the same as I’d left it earlier except for the candles I’d taken. Now with the power back on, having the room lit made it look even more gruesome, evil, and vile. The reek of blood and entrails was worse than before, and I had to strain to keep from retching.
A female, an inch or two taller than me, turned at the sound of us entering the room. Her formal gray robe swayed around her body and then settled. Her green eyes were bright and intense, centered around an inhumanly beautiful face, with large sensuous lips that seemed swollen like she’d been kissing. A few hairs drifted around her black chignon that she wore low behind the nape of her neck. She was statuesque and beautiful, and her pointy ears and scent of sweet candy screamed fae.
Faeries were skilled with glamour magic, their own, wild magic. She could be in her early twenties or closer to eighty for I all knew. Though the face she wore now said early thirties.
Being as I’d never really had to deal with the Gray Council, I had no idea what kind of person she was. Now I had front row seats.
Every finger was bejeweled with gaudy rings and her wrists were ringed with golden bracelets. Her green eyes were framed by a severely annoyed expression upon seeing me.
Oh, goodie. We were going to get along just fine. I gave her my best smile with a little tooth.
Irva was, without a doubt, Sarek’s replacement. Which meant she was a newbie when it came to matters of the Gray Council. It also meant she was going to try and distinguish herself now. I hated those. Because it also meant she was about to do anything to make her mark and stand out within the Council. It would also make her insecure and most probably, very nasty.
Logan looked mildly surprised that I hadn’t obeyed his highness’s command to wait for him.
He could suck it too.
I took Irva’s irritated expression as her way of greeting. “I’m Samantha Beaumont,” I told her but did not give her my hand to shake. I doubted she would take it. “I’m the witch assigned to this case. I’m the one who called.”
“I know,” said Irva, her voice smooth and icy all at the same time. Creepy.
I wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous or the fact that she was so close to Logan that bothered me more. Maybe a bit of both.
“I’ve had a long day,” I started as I made my way into the room to stand with my back against the chest of drawers facing the bed with Lars still suspended above it. I crossed my arms over my chest. “I can hear my bed calling. Yes. It can do that. Your secretary implied that you wanted to discuss something? If I’m wrong, I’ll be on my way.”
Irva’s lips parted as Faris strolled into the room and leaned on the dresser to my left with a bag of popcorn in his hand, smelling like he’d just nuked it in the microwave.
He popped a handful into his mouth. “Please, get on with the show,” he said, his mouth full. He looked at me and winked.
Here we go.
Irva stared at Faris for a moment longer before pulling her eyes back on me. “I won’t be needing your assistance after all. You can go home, Samantha.” She looked at Logan, and a slow and utterly sensuous smile spread over her mouth. “Logan gave me everything I need.”
I bet he did. I didn’t like the way she was looking at him. Yes, she was undressing him with her eyes, but there was also a hunger there, like she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into his flesh.
All that aside, I was more ticked that she knew this and still had left me there to wait like a fool. They didn’t think of telling me that earlier? Of course not. Like I said, she was trying to make a name for herself. I could think of a few really good ones.
Irva thought she had power over me. Guess again, you tall, freakishly beautiful, fae bitch.
“Well, that’s great. Really terrific.” I gave a small laugh and glanced at Logan. “Did he tell you who these humans were that attacked us? Because a minute ago… he didn’t have a clue.” Logan’s eyes widened and I looked back at Irva.
The fae female gave me a smile with a much more predatory edge. “He did tell me who they were.”
I looked at Logan and felt like he’d just kicked me in the stomach. Waves of heat rushed to my face before I could control my emotions. Betrayal was an angry lump in my gut, and the walls of my stomach were squeezing together so hard I found it difficult to breathe.
Logan’s expression was unreadable as he stared at the fae. He’d known all this time and hadn’t told us? Why would he hide something like that from me? Was he purposely jeopardizing my case? It was almost like he didn’t want me to succeed. As though he wanted me to fail.
When I looked back at Irva, a deeply satisfied smile came over her. She’d never looked away from me. “And yet… he didn’t have to,” she added, still smiling. “This is clearly the work of the EAM group.” At my blank stare she added. “Extreme Anti-magic Movement.”
Faris chewed on a popcorn, leaned over, and whispered in my ear. “Never heard of them. You?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want Irva to know I’d never heard of them either. But judging by her knowing smile, she already knew.
Irva tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. “They’re an extremist hate group made up of humans who oppose all things magical and paranormal.”
I clenched my jaw and tried to smooth out my growing frustration, partly with Logan and partly at myself for never having heard of such a group. “What makes you both so sure it’s them? This is New York City. We’ve got all kinds of crazies.”
“It’s them,” she answered like that was supposed to answer my question. “This is their MO. It’s what they do—their signature. Kill the magical and paranormal and make a show of it.” Smiling without mirth, she grabbed a fistful of Lars’s hair and lifted his head so I’d be sure to see what she pointed at. A mark was cut into Lars’s forehead. The letters E A M were car
ved inside a circle.
Damnit. I’d missed that. In my defense, we were under attack. Still, I wanted to kick myself. I should have caught that.
Irva let go of the dead witch’s hair and looked back at me, anger making her eyes hard. “They hate us. They want to destroy us. And these little humans think they can kill members of the Council and we won’t retaliate?” she laughed. “Such small, simple minds, humans. Although this is new,” she said as she looked up into Lars’s face. “They seem to be evolving.”
Evolving? Was she serious? I didn’t know which was making me angrier: the fact that Logan knew, or the fact that the Council had known about this human hate group and had quietly kept it under wraps.
“Why is it I’m only just hearing about them now?” Pissed, I uncrossed my arms, wanting to hit something.
“They are a fairly new group.” Irva’s eyes moved from Lars’s face, rolling over the hole in his stomach. The fae didn’t even flinch at the sight of his entrails. One might think she was used to seeing gutted witches. “There have been a few other incidents involving this same group. They attacked a vampire compound in Queens. Left none alive.”
“That’s terrible,” I said, keeping my eyes on Irva, though I could feel Logan’s stare on me. “I didn’t hear about it.”
“But coming after Council members,” continued Irva as though I hadn’t interrupted her. “They’re more confident. Their numbers are growing. Spreading, like a disease. Given the right conditions, they’ll bloom like a cancer.”
My gaze dropped back to Logan. His attention bore into mine as he took a slow breath, watching me. Emotions shifted over his face. “Shooting vampires at random,” I said, my eyes back on Irva, “and killing two members of the Gray Council doesn’t add up. Does it?”
Irva stiffened. It was subtle and anyone else would have missed it. I didn’t. She slowly turned her eyes back on me, still standing casually next to Logan but with a new wariness tightening her features.
I shifted my body. “I mean… something’s changed or they have a new goal in mind.”
A rising tension moved along Irva’s posture. “Their goal is to murder us all,” she said, her voice low. “Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve said?”
“You say they hate magic, but they’re pretty good at using it. Don’t you think that’s a bit odd for an extremist group that despises magic? It goes against what they believe.”
Irva made a small noise of disagreement. “I do not.”
Liar. Liar. Pants on fire. “It has something to do with the book.” I knew I was on to something at the sudden anger flashing behind Irva’s eyes. “Judging by that look you’re giving me, I can see I’m right.”
“Samantha,” warned Logan. He made a sudden sharp shake of his head in an attempt to tell me I was going too far. Too bad, lover boy.
Logan’s inability to support me in this made me bold, reckless, and perhaps a little foolish. I could live with foolish.
“So, Irva,” I said. “Tell me about the book. You know which one I’m talking about. The one that got Sarek killed. The one this, anti-magic group took.”
If I could give out an Oscar for best actress in a drama, I’d give it to Irva. Her features molded into a perfect ignorant visage, including the rising of the eyebrows in surprise. Damn. The bitch was good.
“Book? What book?” asked the Council member. “If they took a book from the vault, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that.”
“Ooooh. She’s good,” whispered Faris as he chewed on some more popcorn.
Irva’s smile faltered a little as she looked at Faris, plans forming behind her eyes and her pale skin turning a shade darker.
“Why haven’t you apprehended this EAM group?” I questioned quickly before Irva’s curiosity about Faris turned to more questions. “They’re just a bunch of humans. Shouldn’t be hard for the Council.”
Irva’s expression was calm, but she sounded bitter. “Our resources have been spread elsewhere.” She stared at me, her eyes fixing on mine with such ferocity I could almost see her imagining squeezing my neck in them. “After the mage fiasco, the Council has been busy cleaning up your mess.”
Faris swore under his breath.
My friend anger came to pay me another visit. “My mess?” Was she for real? “How’s that my mess? I’m not responsible for the mages and what they did. Because of me we finally stopped them.”
“It was my understanding the demons saved the Dark Witch Court. Not you,” said the fae with a small, contented smile.
Who do you think summoned them, you pointed-eared cow? “We were a team. The demons worked with us to stop the mages.” My heart throbbed as I thought about who would spread such lies after I’d almost died trying to protect the Court. I looked at Logan, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. Why wasn’t he saying anything? He was there. He saw what it was like.
Irva began to pace around the room. “Let’s see… You let the half-breeds tear each other apart… you inflicted distrust among the races when you should have been trying to keep everyone calm. You let witches die because you refused to tell them about the mages.”
That’s it. I hated her. “That’s not true. I didn’t know about the mages until they were practically breaking down the wards at the Dark Witch Court.”
Irva stopped and faced me. I had to look up. She was that tall. I hated that. “It’s been weeks, but the damage you did might never go away,” she said and turned from me to go stand next to Logan, her little pet.
I gritted my teeth, wanting to cut the smile off of her face. I was going to spell her fae ass. Give her human ears and a big, fat butt. See how she’d like that.
So, the Council was blaming me. How flattering.
Still, the Dark Witch Court believed in me, and I took all the courage from that. They wouldn’t have hired me if they shared her sentiments. How could they when we’d fought side by side? This was more like a one-woman show. She was trying to blame me. Maybe she would try to blame me for these murders as well.
Let’s see you try.
If she thought she could deter me with her little speech, she didn’t know me at all. In fact, it had the opposite effect. It gave me a giant boost to do whatever it took to find these EAMs myself and throw it back into her face.
She said the Gray Council was too busy to find the EAM group. I said she didn’t know where to look.
“The book they took,” I said after a moment of silence, my heart pounding with excitement and defiance, “has something to do with Lars’s death and the way he was killed. If you tell me about the book, I can figure out what they want and find them. I can put a stop to this.”
I decided not to tell her about the Rifts. First, because I didn’t have any proof that the two were connected. And second, I wasn’t about to give her any freebies either.
Irva shook her head, very slowly, and the lines at the corners of her eyes deepened as she narrowed them. “You don’t need to bother yourself with this anymore. Like I said, you can leave.”
And like that, I was dismissed.
She turned to Logan. “Have Valerie call me. There’s something I’d like to pick her brain about.”
“Of course,” answered Logan as he flicked his eyes in my direction. “Samantha, can I have a word with you? In private?”
“No.” I nearly snarled. Seeing the shock and a flicker of anguish flash in Logan’s eyes made me wonder if I’d been wrong about this whole thing. Too late.
A ribbon of angst pulled through me. She wasn’t going to get rid of me that easily. I still needed more information. And I had a feeling she knew a lot more than she was letting on.
“You said they hate magic, and yet they were skilled in it enough to produce a powerful ward and summon a demon,” I told her. “Either you’re wrong about that, or they’re getting help from somewhere. Summoning demons isn’t an easy thing to do. Trust me. Most witches I know can’t even summon a lesser demon without losing a part of their body.”
“Amateurs,” laughed Faris. Pieces of popcorn spotted the front of his black shirt.
Irva thought about it a moment. “Yes. It’s why I’ve asked for help in this matter. Someone with the skill and experience in dealing with demons.”
Who the hell was she talking about? “Why do you think they came back to this apartment after they’d already killed Lars and performed the ritual?”
Irva’s face twisted. “How should I know?” Her posture said she was irritated by my pestering questions and had just about enough of me. Too bad, lady.
My anger doubled at her lack of cooperation and secrecy. “They came back to kill us. Why do you think that is? They’d already finished with Lars. Is it because they knew I was onto them?” I asked, knowing it to be true as the words left my lips. “They want me dead because I know about the book? I’m right. Aren’t I? Yeah. You know I am. And now, I have a target on my head because they don’t want me to find it.” Because finding it would mean I would put a stop to whatever this was.
I watched her lips press into a tight, determined line. “You’re hiding something,” I told her.
“Samantha, what are you doing?” exclaimed Logan, his face paling and twisting with something I didn’t understand. “You’re talking to a Council member.”
I raised my brows. “Am I? I’m sorry. I thought I was talking to a lying cow.” Oopsy.
Irva’s face darkened two shades, and I swear she grew two inches taller. I watched the play of emotions over her smooth face as she controlled her feelings. Damn. She was good.
The sound of someone approaching reached me, and I looked up to see Raynor stride into the room, his movements slow and controlled with his head high like he owned the place. Malark balanced on his witch’s shoulder, clicking his mandibles together. Raynor moved toward the bed, his eyes shifting over Lars’s dead body.
“What’s the bald bastard doing here?” asked Faris.
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